The two sides are in Pool A at the fourth edition of the competition, along with Chinese Taipei and The Netherlands, with matches scheduled to be held at the Gocheok Sky Dome.

The tournament begins tomorrow and runs through to March 22, with Japan, Mexico and the United States also hosting games.

Dodger Stadium in Los Angeles will host the finals from March 20 to 22.

South Korea, whose team includes Oh Seung-hwan of Major League Baseball side the St Louis Cardinals, will be hoping to harness the energy of the partisan home support when they take on Israel, who have qualified for the World Baseball Classic for the first time.

They secured their spot at this year's tournament by beating Britain at MCU Park in Brooklyn in New York City in September.

Kim is expecting the newcomers to provide a stern test and he called on his players to get their campaign off to the best possible start with a win.

"We'll be playing under a lot of pressure," he said.

"Since we'll be going up against strong countries, we'll have to do the best we can to live up to our fans' expectations. 

"It's a short tournament, and every game will play out like a Championship game."

Australia, China, Cuba and Japan will meet in Pool B at the Tokyo Dome from March 7 to 11, while Pool C sees defending champions Dominican Republic face Canada, Colombia and the United States at Marlins Park in Miami from March 9 to 13.

Italy, Mexico, Puerto Rico and Venezuela will contest Pool D at the Estadio Charros de Jalisco in Guadalajara from March 9 to 13.

The top two countries in each pool will advance to the next round.